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Authenticity is Everything
Is this enough provenance?
Hello everyone!
New member and first post here. I originally joined to ask for help in identifying an autograph on a guitar, but I was able to I.D. it yesterday. This leads me to a question for which I am hoping some of you might be able to assist; however. Let me give you the back-story first.
The company for which I work has a storage area that is legendary for being a complete disaster of disorganization. Nobody is in charge of it, so it us a free-for-all. I was in this room looking for something and was on a small step ladder looking on a top shelf, when I noticed an acoustic guitar in a plastic bag on the top shelf of the next section. Curious... I moved my ladder to get a closer look. There were two more acoustic guitars under it in boxes. All three were autographed. I took pictures of the autographs and asked the CEO's admin if she knew anything about them. She typically knows "everything". She did not. I asked everyone I could think of and nobody knew. Seems that someone who had left the company put them there.
Long story longer, after tracking down past employees that might know, I found out that my company sponsored acoustic recording sessions with a local Minneapolis-St. Paul radio station. When bands would come to town for concerts, the radio station would invite then to come and record some songs. They put out a CD every year with all the songs they recorded. We sponsored it in part of 2005 and 2006 and these three guitars were signed by artists while at these recording sessions and given to my company for sponsoring. With the help of someone at the radio station, I identified all three autographs. They are Dave Gray, James Blunt, and John Rzeznik (The Goo Goo Dolls).
A beloved coworker passed away from Covid over a year ago and a few friends held a memorial golf tournament to raise money for his wife and kids last year. We did a silent auction and got some great autographed Vikings, Twins, MN Wild, MN United, Gophers items donated that we were able to auction off. We are planning the second annual golf tournament/silent auction now and I got the company to agree to donate these guitars as auction items.
My question (finally) is whether it would be adequate provenance if I provide a letter on company letterhead stating that (my company name) sponsored the (Insert Station Name) radio station's “Studio C Sessions" in part of 2005 and 2006 and during that time (insert artist's name) performed there and autographed this guitar, which has given to (my company name) for sponsoring. Then a statement that (my company name) is donating it to the Memorial Golf Tournament as a fund raising item.
Anyone would be able to validate that we did sponsor during that time period and that the artist did come to that studio to perform. I don't know what else to give them. Would this be adequate?
Thank you!
-Mike-
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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"...The company for which I work has a storage area that is legendary for being a complete disaster of disorganization. Nobody is in charge of it, so it us a free-for-all. I was in this room looking for something and was on a small step ladder looking on a top shelf, when I noticed an acoustic guitar in a plastic bag on the top shelf of the next section. Curious... I moved my ladder to get a closer look. There were two more acoustic guitars under it in boxes. All three were autographed. I took pictures of the autographs and asked the CEO's admin if she knew anything about them. She typically knows "everything". She did not. I asked everyone I could think of and nobody knew. Seems that someone who had left the company put them there..."
Have they been properly authenticated? How do you know they are authentic? The story has a weak link in it.
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Permalink Reply by JK on
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I believe your story and I assume they are real, but they really should be authenticated or at least aggressively compared to known examples.
Just playing devil's advocate, but what if those past employees kept the real ones and substituted fake ones? How would you know?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Speer on
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Thank you for the response. Being new to this, I had not considered that kind of thing. I am certain that is not the case, but you make a valid point. Since these are being used as a charity fundraiser, we are not really in a position to pay for authentication, so I will search for known examples for comparison. Thanks for the suggestion! Just a quick Google Image Search turned up these. I will see what else I can find.
-Mike-
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How do you know these are real? The Blunt looks like a machine signed signature. Yours has the "B" inverted in a way, Perhaps I should mention charity auctions are notorius for selling bad material, so establishing authenticity by a third party is desired. It will bring better money with papers from PSA, JSA or BAS, or ideally by Roger Epperson. A quick opinion would not be acceptable IMO.
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"...My question (finally) is whether it would be adequate provenance if I provide a letter on company letterhead stating that (my company name) sponsored the (Insert Station Name) radio station's “Studio C Sessions" in part of 2005 and 2006 and during that time (insert artist's name) performed there and autographed this guitar, which has given to (my company name) for sponsoring. Then a statement that (my company name) is donating it to the Memorial Golf Tournament as a fund raising item.
Anyone would be able to validate that we did sponsor during that time period and that the artist did come to that studio to perform...."
Anyone would be able to verify that, yes, but you have no tangible proof these are those guitars. What if they were switched out as suggested by someone? No photos were taken at the time of the signing?
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